100 days self-employed - things don't always go as planned!
from Michael Pertek at
In the first part of the blog series about the first 100 days of diselva, I talked about the emotional world and the rollercoaster rides at the beginning. The second part is about our "Business Insides": Skills shortages, maturity in digitalisation and the challenges of being able to implement projects agilely and quickly in companies. - In other words, "why things don't run so smoothly after all...".
When a company starts up without its own legacy - like diselva - and therefore has a high degree of flexibility, commitment and willingness to co-operate, the perspective on some topics changes dramatically.
Digitalisation maturity
Where do companies stand in terms of digitalisation? It is undisputed that all companies are dealing with digitalisation issues in some form or another. However, the many appointments with customers have once again shown us very vividly what we already knew from our experience - really all of them are on the path to digitalisation, but all to very different degrees and with very different levels of digitalisation maturity and with a high variance in the digital skills of employees - especially managers.
Probably not very surprising - but there is one thing they have in common: all customers are looking for external impetus and support in various forms, from management, conceptualisation and analysis to challenging their own ideas. The challenges in dealing with the digitalisation of the core business and sales in particular have increased continuously. IT infrastructure and architecture have become more and more of a confusing and self-evolving zoo. The systems certainly fulfilled the right function at some point, but the increasing complexity, change and, above all, networking of data and systems and the increasing speed of change are generating high costs and a high level of resource utilisation in order to operate and further develop this architecture.
The ability to modularise and network individual systems into a functioning overall architecture is becoming more and more of a challenge if the demands of sales and business are to be met at all. Not to mention providing guidance through a comprehensible strategic direction. We are confident that we can contribute to excellent solutions here.
Shortage of skilled labour
Everyone is talking and complaining about the shortage of skilled labour in the IT sector (see, for example, a very recent study by UBS). It can't be that bad. It is more complicated than expected to get individual employees into companies and projects as support and to counteract the acute shortage. In my opinion, legal regulations, incorrect incentive systems, inflexible working models, high formal hurdles, opaque recruitment procedures and a lack of commitment to customer and project success when "hiring staff" are all reasons that prevent the flexible utilisation of free resources available on the market and thus the exploitation of existing potential.
The shortage of skilled labour could be reduced to a not inconsiderable extent through greater elasticity and the simple exchange of skills (not resources, please). A rethink is required here. It is not only politicians who can solve this dilemma through liberalisation; companies in particular can make agility and flexibility a reality.
If the concepts of "modern ways of working" are actually applied, and flexibility and efficiency are the dominant parameters of the future, then this should not stop at company boundaries. Why not consistently deploy scarce and therefore valuable expertise and skills where their sensible use will generate the best momentum and therefore the greatest overall economic benefit? It is therefore no longer about one-sided "staff leasing" as a business model, but about real co-operation with each other, the exchange of rare and sought-after skills.
Investors, processes, procedures and many good reasons not to do it
In the perception of time of our customers and thus of established and larger companies, 100 days are simply 100 days. For us as a start-up, the first 100 days are decisive and feel like they determine our future existence. The perception and intensity of these 100 days could not be more different.
Customer demand is there. The pressure to solve problems is high, employees are confronted with far-reaching challenges, opportunities and momentum need to be utilised. The challenge and problem are understood - a solution - the solution is within reach. With our expertise and availability, we would be in the right place at the right time. But in every company there are good and understandable reasons not to do it right now and to wait for a few more clarifications and decisions:
- ... processes and procedures still need to be adhered to
- ... it still has to be agreed with ....
- ... we still have to wait for a trend-setting investor decision
- ... we don't have the resources internally (lack of skilled labour?)
- ... we still have to... prioritise other short-term tasks
- ... we must not decide this without the IT groups in the USA
- ... we first have to restructure the internal organisation, we have to solve internal organisational problems before the topic can be pursued further
- ... the new CIO starts in three months, until then...
- ... we want to start without external help, as we don't have a budget, just the contract...
- ... do it as a free PoC or MVP, then we can do it later...
Without question, much of this is understandable, expedient and, in times of corporate governance, not only sensible but simply necessary. In some cases, however, there is a lack of entrepreneurial room for manoeuvre to do the right thing. Often there is a lack of courage and even more often a lack of real willingness to change. The fact is, the problems remain and are not being tackled consistently. In some places, our customers' employees are trapped in over-administrated and over-regulated structures that make it impossible to take decisions quickly, flexibly and in the interests of a solution.
In discussions with these employees, much hope is expressed for change as part of the digital transformation of systems and processes. However, in addition to optimising systems and processes, there needs to be a clear commitment to making decisions where the relevant expertise is available and where an impact can be achieved. We can understand every decision in the respective context, but it would actually be the other way round: continuing now with external expertise would bring the greatest benefit - letting time pass does not bring customers any closer to the set goals.
Showing tangible results quickly in projects is not only in diselva's own interests, but also in the interests of customers and companies. It helps to convince both management and employees that the project makes sense, to demonstrate the benefits for each stakeholder group and to reduce the potential for frustration caused by seemingly endless delays.
New kids on the block
It's not just us at diselva that are new to the market - despite 150 years of experience in the digital sector. Many systems are also new. Lean, modern software products are entering the market. What do we have in common? Nobody was waiting for us. But in our role as a challenger to established consulting and implementation partners and large, monolithic software manufacturers, we are a welcome and sought-after partner. Our broad network and reputation in the market have opened many doors for us. Thanks to our experience and credibility, we have been able to win over customers in discussions on how to drive forward effective digital transformation measures at process, system and organisational level and steer them in the right direction. Nevertheless, we remain the "new kids on the block" and have to prove ourselves anew every day.
In the third part of my blog series on the first 100 days, I will talk about our "positioning on the market": Besides the fact that no one was waiting for us, clear differentiation is both a curse and a blessing. Blessing: The market knows what it's getting - curse: the many missed opportunities, because we could still...
